The Cleveland Cavaliers routed the Toronto Raptors Tuesday night 125-103 to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven game series as LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for second on the career playoff scoring list. The Cavs appear to be on a collision course to meet the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals for the third straight year after splitting their first two meetings.
Cleveland’s biggest stars, James and Kyrie Irving, have already captured one title this year over Golden State’s own dynamic duo of Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. Nike sold more of James’ and Irving’s signature sneakers in the U.S. than those of any other active NBA player during the 12 months ending in March 2017, as measured by dollar volume, according to Matt Powell, an analyst at market research firm NPD Group. Curry’s Under Armour kicks ranked third among the best-sellers with Durant (Nike) in fourth. Houston Rockets point guard James Harden and his first signature shoe with Adidas rounded out the top five, although there was a big sales gap between Durant and Harden says Powell.
James has been one of the NBA’s elite shoe salesman since he entered the NBA in 2003 armed with a seven-year, $90 million contract from Nike. Early editions of LeBron’s signature shoes were not that well received, but sales took off with the LeBron VI. Nike was selling more than $300 million worth of LeBron sneakers annually by 2013. The company locked up James to a “lifetime” deal at the end of 2015 worth as much as $1 billion, according to James’ business manager Maverick Carter. Nike released the 14th version of LeBron’s signature shoe this season.
The NBA is a hot property globally right now with franchise values soaring, but the performance basketball shoe market is struggling and even King James is not immune. Retailers and brands have reported softness in the signature basketball market and Powell says he sees the same thing in his numbers with shoe sales for James, Curry and Durant all down over the past 12 months.
“It is always about a fashion business and right now we have other categories that are considered fashionable by the consumer,” says Powell.
Powell cites lifestyle running and casual athletic as strong performers over the past year. Performance categories are down across the board. Powell says it is the first time in his nearly two decades of tracking sportswear data where every performance category of shoes, including basketball, running, training, hiking and more, is down.
Irving is the only player among the four best sellers without an MVP trophy on his mantle (the other three have combined for seven MVPs), but his shoe sales are on fire. Nike Brand President Trevor Edwards said during a Nike earnings call in March that the Kyrie 3 launched in December was the best-selling performance basketball shoe in the market. Credit the more affordable price of $120 and the newness of the Irving shoe. Nike has also backed Irving’s shoes with its marketing muscle.
“He is the new face. It’s a product that has not been in the market, and it is getting some attention from the fashion consumer as well,” says Powell in regards to Irving. But Powell cautions the next 12 months for Nike will be more challenging for the Irving shoes. “My gut is that we’ll see a similar situation to Curry where he’ll be hot for a while and then it will fizzle out,” says Powell.
Curry’s success on the court as back-to-back NBA MVP helped fuel sales of his Under Armour shoes. The company’s total footwear sales grew 64% in the first quarter last year, but only 2% this year as the Under Armour posted its first-ever loss as a publicly-traded company. “A sluggish signature market and a warm consumer reception led to softer-than-expected results,” said Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank on an earnings call last month.
The Curry 3 was not much of an update from prior shoes. “The greater fashion headwinds away from signature basketball finally caught up with them,” says Powell. “It is so hard to stay fresh and to really keep products updated.”
The current crop of NBA stars compete on the court, but they can't touch a basketball legend who has not laced up his hightops for an NBA game when it comes to shoe sales. Michael Jordan is still the king of NBA sneakers with the Nike subsidiary Jordan brand commanding more than 50% of the basketball shoe market. The Jordan performance has been soft, but the retro business is "quite strong" says Powell. Nike reported revenue for Jordan of $2.8 billion last year, or more than 10 times the sales of any active NBA hoopster.
Best-Selling NBA Signature Shoes
- LeBron James
- Kyrie Irving
- Stephen Curry
- Kevin Durant
- James Harden
Based on 12-month sales through March 2017. Source: Matt Powell, NPD Group.
